Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Semi-Homemade Apple Pie.

As I keep stating, I'm not much on baking as I don't like to do all that precise measuring. Whenever I've made a fruit pie in the past, I used the canned stuff; I know, shocking! When I received six large Granny Smith apples in my last Bountiful Basket pack, I simply stared at them. They're too tart, in my opinion, for eating as is, so I've always used them in some type of cooking recipe. This time I was going to be brave and bake them, but the decision was , "Apple Dumplings or Apple Pie"?

I don't make my own pie crust which is what I would need for either recipe. Off to the local market I went to get refrigerated pie crusts, but the Marie Callender deep dish pie shells were on sale too; so apple pie it was. Now how to put the pie together? Well, I've always enjoyed watching baking shows, have several books on baking; as always, I was going to wing it.

Surprise! My little adventure came out a delicious success. The apples were neither too soft, or too firm; they had just the right scrunch. The butter melted and combined with the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to make a rich, fragrant sauce that, again, was neither too thin, or too gooey. Goldilocks would have been so awesomely proud of my creation.

Apple Pie

(Recipe makes two
pies)

Ingredients:

6 large Granny Smith
apples

2 qts. cold water

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. nutmeg

2- deep dish (9 inch) pie
shells

1 package refrigerated pie
crusts

8 Tbsp. butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Core, peel and slice
apples into ¼ inch slices; place in a large plastic bowl, cover with water and
add in lemon juice.

In a small bowl, mix
together brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.Cut each tablespoon of butter into quarters.

Into each pie shell, place
¼ of the apple slices; use a strainer to remove from the water and shake excess
off.Sprinkle ¼ cup of the brown sugar
mixture over the slices; dot with eight quarter pieces of butter.Repeat each layer – apple slices, brown sugar
mixture, butter.

Top with pie crust and
pinch the excess around the edge; with the tip of a knife, pierce the crust 9
to 12 times.

Place a piece of aluminum
foil on the oven rack; center pie on top of foil to catch any dripping.Bake for 45 – 50 minutes; until pie crust is
a golden brown.